Haircuts
by g3l0
Summary: Ino offers Sakura a free haircut at a salon she works at. However, a surprise visit leaves Sakura with more than just a haircut. One-shot. SasuSaku, slight SaiIno. T for Language (which only happens like, once).


Sakura shuffled around uncomfortably in her seat. The sound of hair dryers and chatty middle-aged women bounced around within the parlor walls. It had been at least 3 years since she cut her hair, and the dead ends were finally starting to show way more than she had been used to. Hell, she was _never_ used to having dead ends.

Out of curiosity, she looked up to see women getting their nails done, different designs being painted on each delicate finger. A giggle caused her to look to her right to see a mother and daughter getting their hair shampoo'd. The little girl looked ecstatic and her mother seemed just as happy. She decided to see if anyone was getting a pedicure, so she looked to the left to see... A man getting one. He looked like a mix between comfy and embarrassed. The woman doing his feet looked up and chatted happily, as if trying to encourage him.

Sakura stared for a while, trying to process the image, but she eventually shrugged it off. ' _Hey, this is a free country_ '.

The woman stood up to poke at the man and kiss him on the cheek before walking off and disappearing behind some purple curtains. ' _I wonder if they're dating_ ' Sakura thought, as she absentmindedly scratched at a spot on her arm.

"Forehead! You're here early!"

Sakura looked up to see her best friend peek into the parlor before sliding into the room. A boy who looked to be about their age followed in behind her.

"Hey pig, your hair looks glossy today," Sakura greeted. Ino flipped her hair dramatically in response as Sakura asked, "who's your entourage?"

Ino turned around and held her hands out towards the boy like a spotlight. "This is _Sai_ , he's the prodigy apprentice here." Sai nodded his head in a polite greeting. "Beautiful, you didn't tell me your friend was so ugly. Is this why you wanted to take advantage of your free treatment?"

Ino giggled and batted her eyelashes at Sai while Sakura's jaw dropped. "Sai! You're back-good. Can you come here please?" A woman called from the back near the hair area. Sakura stood up as Sai walked away, and Ino's puppy dog eyes trailed from Sai to a very grumpy looking Sakura.

"Oh, don't be like that, Sakura. He doesn't mean anything by it." Sakura mimicked her friend bitterly as they walked towards the back of the salon. Ino looked at Sakura with a pout, "I think he likes you." Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Honest."

"Right, and telling a girl she's ugly is the best way to make a friend." Sakura said sarcastically, glancing over at Ino, "And for some reason," she continued, "he thinks you're pretty." Ino looked at her friend with suspicion.

"I'd say he needs to get his eyes checked before he does anyone's hair." Sakura finished with a smirk as she plopped down into the chair. Ino groaned and rolled her eyes as she turned the chair to face the sparkly lights surrounding the vanity. She then began to prep for Sakura's haircut by placing a barber's gown over her clothes and wrapping a towel around her neck.

"This place really went through a moody purple-sparkle glam transformation, huh?" Sakura asked as Ino began spraying Sakura's hair with water and running a few fingers through it. "Yeah, after Sai's family took over, business has been booming and we didn't even need to lay anyone off," Ino replied cheerfully.

"You're talking as if you owned this place, Ino."

"I might as well have-whoops, sorry Forehead-" Ino untangled a bit of Sakura's hair, "Anyways, I might as well have considering how long I've been working here and how my mom knows Ms. Shizuka..."

"And considering how much trouble you gave Ms. Shizuka when one of her employees didn't give you princess treatment..."

"Hey! I've been a long-time customer of this place, even before it became this huge 'moody purple-sparkle glam' parlor. I deserve it!" Ino said as she dug around through the drawers for some scissors.

While Ino searched, Sakura looked at the customers through her mirror. The mother and daughter pair were leaving the counter with _very_ glamorous hair. ' _Very cute_.' Sakura thought.

Ino returned behind Sakura and began separating and snipping at strands. "Aren't you gonna ask me how I want my hair done?" Sakura teased. She and Ino both knew that Sakura had wanted a layered bob that reached her shoulders. Besides the color of her hair, the short look had become her signature hairstyle, so it was strange for her to have left it to grow for so long.

"Ooh, what's that?" Ino asked, glancing up at the mirror. She stopped cutting at Sakura's hair and turned around before giving out a little gasp.

"What?" Sakura asked. She was still facing the mirror and with Ino in the way, she could hardly see what was going on behind them. "What is it Ino?" She asked again, "Turn me around-turn me around, damn it!"

Ino turned around instead and laid her hands on Sakura's shoulders, hunching over until she was near the girl's ear. She began whispering excitedly, "Sasuke Uchiha is here! Sasuke Uchiha! Sakura! It's SASUKE!"

"What?!" Sakura slightly turned her head towards Ino, "Let me see, Ino!"

Ino quickly turned Sakura's chair around and Sakura looked towards the counter where Sasuke and Naruto were face to face with Sai.

"Your boyfriend's got such a fake smile," Sakura commented with distaste. Ino looked down at Sakura disapprovingly, "Forehead, he's not my boyfriend."

"Not yet," Sakura laughed. Ino couldn't help but laugh too, and began to turn Sakura back around towards the vanity when Naruto's voice rang out.

"Hey, bastard, it's Sakura and Ino!" Sakura and Ino looked back at the boys who were facing their direction. Naruto waved vividly and Ino waved back. Sakura looked straight at Sasuke and smiled. He simply looked at them before turning back to Sai to pay for something.

"Pig," Sakura whispered. "Hey pig!" She whispered louder.

"What?" Ino hissed between clenched teeth.

"Was Sasuke looking at me?"

Ino scoffed, "How should I know. He could be looking at me for all I care." Sakura reached back to smack Ino, but with no avail. Ino smoothed out the gown over Sakura. "I mean, he could've been looking at you," she continued. Sakura glanced up at Ino through the mirror, "cause, y'know, half of your hair is cut off."

Sakura looked at her hair. "Just finish the job, Ino." Ino smiled and continued snipping away diligently.

The girls remained in silence. Sakura eventually began to zone out. ' _Why does it feel so nice to have someone touch your head?_ ' She wondered. ' _What a weird feeling._ '

Before Sakura could fall asleep, Ino gasped. "What?" Sakura asked. "That one old lady is trying to convince Sasuke to meet her daughter!" Ino snorted.

Sakura looked in the same direction as Ino and saw as an older woman talked to Sasuke confidently. He was simply looking down at her, and Sakura wondered if he was even listening until he shook his head.

"What do you mean, 'no'? My daughter's a pretty girl, she's in medical school-you're in college, aren't you?" Sasuke nodded.

"Pfft, 'she's in medical school'. So are you, Forehead, and look at you!" Sakura glared at Ino.

Sasuke glanced over towards them. The girls quickly shut up and stared back at the boy to see what he'd do. Sasuke gestured towards them and said something to the lady who glared in their direction. Sasuke simply walked towards them.

"Hey Sasuke!" Ino smiled sweetly, "I hope you aren't scaring our customers off."

"You should be saying that to her," he replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Ino puffed out her lower lip and nodded her head. "Meh, true." She moved around to reach at the blow dryer before drying Sakura's hair. "You here to see Forehead?" Sakura groaned, "-Or are you here for your own haircut?"

Sasuke looked down towards the other seats. "Naruto's getting his hair trimmed."

"So why are you here?"

"...Moral support?"

"Sasuke, do you even have enough morality to morally support someone?" Ino covered her mouth with her free hand. "Oh, s-sorry Sasuke."

He shrugged his shoulders and turned back around. "It's fine." Sakura bit her lip. It felt like he was staring holes into the top of her head.

"It feels weird, right?" Sasuke looked at Ino curiously. "Looking at the top of Sakura's head," Ino replied, answering his unspoken question.

"It's not like it looks weird," Sakura commented, "It's just a head of hair."

"A head of _pink_ hair!" Ino emphasized. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Teme! We're leaving!" Sasuke turned his attention back towards the entrance. "Aa. Go ahead. I'll meet you." He replied. Naruto waved at the girls before disappearing into the main building. Sakura could barely see him beyond the tinted windows.

"Hey, I gotta get something from the back, I'll be right... Back." Ino stated as she placed the blow dryer back on the counter.

Sasuke sat down silently in the seat besides Sakura. She looked over at him.

"So... How's your college life? I haven't seen you since..."

"A while." Sasuke finished. "And it's alright. I get weird looks, but they leave me alone."

"You always get weird looks," Sakura chuckled, "but I'm glad that you're more comfortable now."

"I guess."

Silence returned. Ino had still not returned from the back rooms and Sasuke still hadn't gotten up to meet Naruto at wherever he was supposed to. A baby's crying rang out loud and clear over the chatter and caught both of their attention.

"Sakura, is there a movie you want to see soon?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked. The question caught her off guard. Sasuke only looked at her. ' _Probably assumed I heard him_ ,' Sakura thought. ' _Probably assumed right_.' She sighed. She looked back at herself in the vanity.

"Um, not really, but I haven't really payed much attention to movies lately. Even though... Finals are over, y'know?"

"Yeah."

"Did you want to go watch a movie with me?" She asked. Probably better to just ask the question rather than wait for him to say something, if he was ever planning on it.

"Like a date, I guess."

"Haaah?" Sakura asked. She spun her chair around to face Sasuke, who met her eyes. Only then did she realize how dumb she sounded.

"Oh man, my face is burning," Sakura said, more to herself than the boy in front of her, and moved her hands from under the cover to her cheeks. She laughed awkwardly.

Sasuke coughed, "Can't you just take that off now?"

"Hu-uhh... I-I guess." She hadn't thought of that. Her haircut was practically done, right? But before she could move to undo the latch on the barber's gown and take off the towel around her neck, Sasuke was behind her doing it for her.

"Oh-" was all she could say. She hid her hands back under the gown and stared down at the spot where her knees would be. Sasuke's hands quickly unlatched the gown and knocked a couple of stubborn hairs off before folding it and placing it on the counter. He then moved back to remove the towel from around Sakura's neck, where his thumb gently brushed against her skin.

' _Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck_ -' she mentally kicked herself. ' _What the hell am I doing? Why am I so embarrassed?!_ ' She wondered. She stopped liking this boy after the 12th grade. _12th. Grade._ He should not be able to have this sort of effect on her!

But then again, she hasn't really interacted with any guys since she graduated, so it makes sense if she's a little uncomfortable with a guy touching her, but this guy is touching her on her neck and he's been her crush for-

"Sakura?" She snapped back to attention. "Y-yes?" She asked. Sasuke looked down at his phone before putting it in front of her face. "Is this still your number?" She reached up to the phone, but then laid her hand back in her lap. "Yes, that's still it." He shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"Okay. I'll call you." _Call?_ "Naruto's probably getting impatient."

"Oh," she stood up, "yeah, okay. I'll-um-talk to you then." He reached out to pat her on the arm before turning to walk out. ' _A pat? What the hell is that? Who pats people like that? Especially after asking them out on a date?_ '

Sasuke quickly passed Sai on his way out and the two boys only shared a glance before Sai reached Sakura and Sasuke is out the door. "What did you say to that boy, ugly? He looked all embarrassed. Probably from talking to you."

"Huh? Embarrassed? Really?" Sakura could feel a smile tugging on her lips. "Wait. Hold on, Sai. We're gonna need to work on your social skills if you're gonna be friends with me." Sai shrugged his shoulders and began to walk away. Sakura suddenly felt livelier than she had in a long time. She smiled to herself before walking after the boy. "Hey! Hey, Sai! Wait a minute, I'm not done with you-you can't call me that!"

* * *

"Hey Sasuke. What took you so long? Did you do it?"

"Shut up, idiot."

"Pfft, why's your face so red?"


End file.
